Robert J. Sawyer

Author profile

born

April 29, 1960 in Ottawa, Canada

gender

male

website

http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm

genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy, Mystery & Thrillers

About this author

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Robert J. Sawyer is one of Canada's best known and most successful science fiction writers. He is the only Canadian (and one of only 7 writers in the world) to have won all three of the top international awards for science fiction: the 1995 Nebula Award for The Terminal Experiment, the 2003 Hugo Award for Hominids, and the 2006 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Mindscan.
Robert Sawyer grew up in Toronto, the son of two university professors. He credits two of his favourite shows from the late 1960s and early 1970s, Search and Star Trek, with teaching him some of the fundamentals of the science-fiction craft. Sawyer was obsessed with outer space from a young age, and he vividly remembers watching the televised Apollo missions. He clai...moreRobert J. Sawyer is one of Canada's best known and most successful science fiction writers. He is the only Canadian (and one of only 7 writers in the world) to have won all three of the top international awards for science fiction: the 1995 Nebula Award for The Terminal Experiment, the 2003 Hugo Award for Hominids, and the 2006 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Mindscan.
Robert Sawyer grew up in Toronto, the son of two university professors. He credits two of his favourite shows from the late 1960s and early 1970s, Search and Star Trek, with teaching him some of the fundamentals of the science-fiction craft. Sawyer was obsessed with outer space from a young age, and he vividly remembers watching the televised Apollo missions. He claims to have watched the 1968 classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey 25 times. He began writing science fiction in a high school club, which he co-founded, NASFA (Northview Academy Association of Science Fiction Addicts). Sawyer graduated in 1982 from the Radio and Television Arts Program at Ryerson University, where he later worked as an instructor.

Sawyer's first published book, Golden Fleece (1989), is an adaptation of short stories that had previously appeared in the science-fiction magazine Amazing Stories. This book won the Aurora Award for the best Canadian science-fiction novel in English. In the early 1990s Sawyer went on to publish his inventive Quintaglio Ascension trilogy, about a world of intelligent dinosaurs. His 1995 award winning The Terminal Experiment confirmed his place as a major international science-fiction writer.

A prolific writer, Sawyer has published more than 10 novels, plus two trilogies. Reviewers praise Sawyer for his concise prose, which has been compared to that of the science-fiction master Isaac Asimov. Like many science fiction-writers, Sawyer welcomes the opportunities his chosen genre provides for exploring ideas. The first book of his Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, Hominids (2002), is set in a near-future society, in which a quantum computing experiment brings a Neanderthal scientist from a parallel Earth to ours. His 2006 Mindscan explores the possibility of transferring human consciousness into a mechanical body, and the ensuing ethical, legal, and societal ramifications.

A passionate advocate for science fiction, Sawyer teaches creative writing and appears frequently in the media to discuss his genre. He prefers the label "philosophical fiction," and in no way sees himself as a predictor of the future. His mission statement for his writing is "To combine the intimately human with the grandly cosmic."
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659 posts
Robert J. Sawyer's Blog

Robert J. Sawyer isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but he does have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from his feed.

Pinning it on William Gibson

For the 30th anniversary of the Aurora Awards — Canada's top honour in science-fiction and fantasy writing — all previous nominees were presented with commemorative pins. Most of the nominees received theirs at ceremonies at SF conventions across Canada held in 2010 (I got mine at Keycon in May of that year). But Vancouver's William Gibson, who has been nominated for the Aurora numerous time (in...

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Published on February 04, 2012 21:45 • 29 views

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Books by Robert J. Sawyer

Average rating: 3.71 · 18,629 ratings · 2,468 reviews · 34 distinct works

	Flashforward 3.47 avg rating — 3,483 ratings — published 1999 — 30 editions	My rating:
	Hominids (Neanderthal Parallax, #1) 3.73 avg rating — 2,134 ratings — published 2002 — 11 editions	My rating:
	Calculating God 3.77 avg rating — 1,686 ratings — published 2000 — 12 editions	My rating:
	WWW: Wake (WWW, #1) 3.73 avg rating — 1,661 ratings — published 2009 — 17 editions	My rating:
	Humans (Neanderthal Parallax, #2) 3.71 avg rating — 1,214 ratings — published 2003 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Hybrids (Neanderthal Parallax, #3) 3.71 avg rating — 1,021 ratings — published 2004 — 8 editions	My rating:
	Rollback 3.62 avg rating — 921 ratings — published 2007 — 7 editions	My rating:
	WWW: Watch (WWW, #2) 3.97 avg rating — 856 ratings — published 2010 — 15 editions	My rating:
	The Terminal Experiment 3.58 avg rating — 615 ratings — published 1995 — 13 editions	My rating:
	Mindscan 3.74 avg rating — 605 ratings — published 2005 — 6 editions	My rating:

More books by Robert J. Sawyer…

Series by Robert J. Sawyer

Neanderthal Parallax (3 books)
by Robert J. Sawyer

3.72 avg rating — 4,364 ratings

WWW (3 books)
by Robert J. Sawyer

3.82 avg rating — 3,046 ratings

Quintaglio Ascension (3 books)
by Robert J. Sawyer

4.03 avg rating — 516 ratings

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Quotes by Robert J. Sawyer

“Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace.”
― Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God

32 people liked it

“Naturally, one does not normally discuss plans to commit murder with the intended victim.”
― Robert J. Sawyer, Flashforward

tags: future , killers , murder

8 people liked it

“It is either coincidence piled on top of coincidence," said Hollus, "or it is deliberate design.”
― Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God

tags: anthropic-principle , chance , coincidenc-e , fine-tuning , id , intelligent-design , naturalism , religious-science-fiction , science , theism , theistic-science-fiction

8 people liked it

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Polls

Here are the nominees for the Science Fiction book for July. Since they are all Hugo Award Nominees, I've added the year because I felt like it. :)

2004 - Ilium by Dan Simmons

3 votes, 27.3%

2006 - Old Man's War by John Scalzi

3 votes, 27.3%

2010 - The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

2 votes, 18.2%

1971 - Tau Zero by Poul Anderson

1 vote, 9.1%

2008 - Brasyl by Ian McDonald

1 vote, 9.1%

2010 - Wake by Robert J. Sawyer

1 vote, 9.1%

1997 - Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon

0 votes, 0.0%

2007 - Blindsight by Peter Watts

0 votes, 0.0%

11 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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The Alternative W...: New Book Shelf - Hard SF	40	26	Apr 21, 2009 11:39pm
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Challenge: 50 Books: Leighann's 50 books in 09	89	248	Dec 30, 2009 01:22pm
Challenge: 50 Books: Barb's 50 books for 2009	80	425	Dec 31, 2009 06:37am

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Robert J. Sawyer

Author profile

659 postsRobert J. Sawyer's Blog

combine editionsBooks by Robert J. Sawyer

Series by Robert J. Sawyer

Upcoming Events

Quotes by Robert J. Sawyer

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

659 posts
Robert J. Sawyer's Blog

combine editions
Books by Robert J. Sawyer